Mourning
by Ragingstillness
Summary: After returning from the disastrous mission that killed so many of their comrades, the Survey Corps mourns their deaths with a special tradition.


Mourning- SNK one-shot

Location: takes place after the expedition where Levi's team dies (again). Sorry, I am too lazy to look up exactly what number expedition that was.

Warning: A little OOC.

Rating: K+

Pairings: Nothing unless you want to squint and find something. Cuddly Survey Corps.

Summary: After returning from the disastrous mission that killed so many of their comrades, the Survey Corps mourns their deaths with a special tradition.

Themes: Hurt/Comfort, Angst or maybe Tragedy

Start:

It was nearing nightfall when the Survey Corps finally returned to headquarters. The parade through town had been beyond traumatizing and no one wanted to say a word. Entering the main common room, a couple recruits stumbled half-heartedly as the person in front of them halted.

Levi, who had been leading the bedraggled crowd after Erwin turned down a different hallway, had frozen in the middle of the room, standing near the dining table. He turned to Reiner and Bertholdt.

"Please move the table and the chairs off to the sides of the room."

The two recruits started, not in surprise at the order but the stern, brusque Corporal saying "please" as if he lacked the will to force them into action. The shock passed quickly and they simply nodded, stepping to opposite ends of the oaken centerpiece of the room.

The Corporal moved further into the room, allowing the soldiers inside, before issuing his orders to them, again with the same weariness in his voice.

"Go take showers and change into sleepwear. Afterwards, bring your sleeping bags to this room."

He gave no explanation for the strange commands and they didn't expect any, glad to just have time to themselves.

Night had fallen over the castle when they returned. Eren came to the room first, afraid of being left with his guilty thoughts as the only company. Hanji and Levi were already there, wet hair staining the green sleeping bags ****they were sitting on. The green was reminiscent of the Survey Corps' cloaks and Eren thought it very appropriate they appeared speckled with tears.

He carried his own bag into the room, and upon noticing Eren, Levi broke off the quiet conversation he had been having with Hanji and motioned for Eren to sit adjacent.

Slowly, the rest of the cadets and soldiers trickled into the room. Mikasa wasted no time in setting her bag next to Eren's, and Armin ended up on the other side of her.

When everyone was in the room and the floor was covered with a veritable carpet of green, Corporal Levi abruptly lay down on his sleeping bag without unzipping it, closing his eyes. Squad Leader Hanji lay down soon after, her head curled slightly under Corporal Levi's arm. The seasoned soldiers laid down one by one and the cadets were left to follow suit with a little confusion.

Eren turned his back to the Corporal and sprawled out on the ground. Mikasa scooted forward and wrapped her arms around him, her fingertips brushing the Corporal's back. The rest took the hint and huddled close to each other, arms, legs, backs touching in search of the comfort that another living being brought. The room was silent. Realizing no one was going to talk, one by one the ragged soldiers fell asleep.

Around the middle of the night, Commander Erwin had finally completed the report for the expedition. He sat back in his office chair and sighed, the soft noise revealing how his smooth composure had cracked under the strain of such a painful mission. He stood and walked softly down the halls, sticking to the edges of the wall where the carpet muffled all sound, suddenly childishly afraid to hear his own footsteps.

When he got to the common room he noticed the soldiers, all laid out on the floor, fast asleep with the small form of Humanity's Strongest in the very center. Sleep made children of all the soldiers, no matter how stern or intimidating they were in battle. The Commander would have liked to join them and would have if the report didn't need to be submitted immediately to the military office. He had tried to sleep and deliver the report the next day on a different mission, but high command had then expressed their absolute lack of respect for his timetable.

Papers in hand, he tossed the same bloodstained cloak he had worn fighting titans over his shoulder and left the building to saddle his horse. When he arrived he placed the papers in the appropriate mailbox and was about to return with hopefully enough time to lie with his soldiers when he saw Military Police Commander Nile Dok and a couple soldiers. They were having a conversation, but the soldiers seemed to be complaining about something. As they passed each other in the hall he caught a couple phrases.

"But why do we all have to attend the funeral? He died in a mugging; not anything special. I barely even knew him." A laugh. "The only ones who miss him are his family."

A rush of rage overtook Erwin's being and he spun towards the soldier, grabbing his shoulder roughly.

"How dare you?! It doesn't matter how well you knew a comrade! They were in arms with you!"

He took a shuddering breath.

"My soldiers are not sleeping in their beds tonight. Do you know why? Of course you don't. You don't understand the meaning of comrades. My soldiers are huddled together on the floor of our common room atop sleeping bags, moving close to those around them just to feel a living human and not a corpse. Many will have nightmares tonight but the warmth and closeness of their fellows will quiet the screams. We lost so many. And we will lose so many more. Each and every one was precious to someone. They deserve every bit of mourning we can give them!"

The soldier stumbled away, looking scared and suitably chastened. His own Commander looked shocked but gave a swift nod to Commander Erwin and ushered the soldiers down the hall.

Commander Erwin sighed again and shook himself of the anger. He began the return trip, realizing along the way that he'd make it barely in time for the soldier's waking. He could already see it in his head.

Levi would wake first. He would hop over those around him, careful not to wake any of them and begin to make tea. Hanji would wake next, missing the Corporal's warmth, and get up to help him with the tea and to make a small breakfast. The kitchen noises would wake the rest and the whole group would eat in silence.

At the end of the meal, Corporal Levi would stand at the head of the table and say the familiar words.

"This is how the Survey Corps mourns our fallen comrades. Thank you for participating."

There'd be a silence and the tired sadness would flee the Corporal's posture, taking that of the group with it.

He'd open his mouth and the day's orders would begin, pushing the soldiers onward to their next mission.

End.

Author's Note:

This is my first time writing in the SNK fandom and only my second fanfic so please take that into consideration. However, I would appreciate review and constructive criticism. I hope the characters are not OOC but I admittedly did not do a character analysis before this, which I probably should have done. Huge thank you to my beautiful beta, Whisperwing. Go check her out, she's a great writer! Let me know if you liked this story, would like me to write another one, and if you like Once Upon A Time because my other story is in that fandom. Please R&R. Thank you.


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